Friday, January 13, 2012

Let me begin by saying, I know that I am completely blessed to have this home. I love living here, but I do want to make the most of what I have and neaten and organize it.
My kitchen is the hub of all activity. So everything and everyone comes in here! This is about as neat as it gets, as a matter of fact,these photos are after I took all the junk out. This is pretty clean to me.
With that said, the pluses of this space are...An abundance of storage, an abundance of natural light, nice tall ceilings, and it is all relatively new. The negatives...I really wish that I would have painted all the cabinets cream. There is a lot of wood in my house. We built this house and have lived here almost 4 years, so they will be staying this way for much, much longer. They are cypress, which is very similiar in tone to pine. The color is a medium stain, that we had custom matched to an antique something or nother.
Once we moved in, I noticed that the furniture floors, and cabinets are pretty monotone. My bad....
Inspired by the popularity of all things gray, I painted the stained barstools a light grayish blue. Great color, wrong type of paint. They started peeling almost immediately. Next, I painted them a warm gray ,Rustoleum Pebble, another fab color and more neutral, hoping that the enamel spray paint would "seal the peel". Mind you, I did some sanding in between all this painting. It did not work, but I had arrived at the correct color. Third try, I found the amazing chalk paint by Annie Sloan. According to the website, you can paint over anything and it sticks. True dat. It has been fairly durable with the exception of greasy fingerprints. But the color I bought,Paris Grey, is just a little too cold. So my latest attempt was Old Linen by Annue Sloan. So far I have painted one, and it looks better. I have to finish the other three now.
I like the thought of varying shades yet still having a neutral palette, and adding pops of color with inexpensive, easy to change accessories.

This chair was rescued from Goodwill, repainted and re-upholstered. It can be moved to another room, it looks a little too 'bedroomy" to me but my kids do like to sit in it and read or play their i-pods. It also has the bonus of being covered in indoor/outdoor fabric.
I recently purchased this book caddy at a thrift store while at the hunting camp. It and the stool in another picture were my rewards for leaving the day after Christmas with decorations and trash everywhere, and agreeing to stay an extra day while suffering from a 3 day migraine I plan on painting both a fun color, probably blue.

This corner cabinet needs help. Normally, it is the catch all space for papers, electronics, meds, you name it. It ends up here.

This is the breakfast area. The table was originally black and the top was shiny,orangey, and gross. I like the weight off it, it has very substantial legs. I also didn't mind painting it. I can't hardly paint actual antiques that are in great condition, but junk or "vintage" stuff, no problem at all.
My plan for the fabrics here is to make some cushions for those uncomfortable antique chairs in the stripe fabric below. Use the trellis linen to make a shade for over my kitchen sink, and make a cute pillow out of the Thomas Paul bird print for the beige chair. I also plan to repaint the table again, this is the third time to work on that table top. It had a faux distressed look to begin with, complete with some kind of black marks that have been impossible to remove. Not sure if I just need to paint the whole thing or try to keep the stained top and painted bottom. I am open to suggestions...

This china cabinet is an example of an antique that I cannot paint. My husband would totally flip out! My plan is to cover the back with a light wallpaper or fabric. I may hang the antique Blue Ridge plates on the wall. They were given to me by my Mom. The other junk in there is a bunch of serving pieces from Pfaltzgraff. I like the colors but I do wish they were solid cream, it would be so much more versatile.

These last photos are of the two pantries. One is for food and the other is actually more of a butlers pantry, it has a stand up freezer and tons of awesome shelves.
I just cleaned out the food pantry and reorganized it. I plan on putting cream curtains on the back of each door, just in case my organizing efforts don't remain organized. That happens here... That rascal in the photo is one reason...he drags out everything.He sure is cute though.

This bookshelf is also desperate from some 'styling." The downfall to high ceilings is even a tall drink of water like myself has trouble reaching my cookbooks on these shelves. This is why I don't like to cook.

It has taken me forever to pull this together, as stated before I could use a lesson or two in blogging efficiency.
I am open to suggestions for lightening it up and making it not quite so "antiquey", it needs a little shot of youthfulness. I get stuck easily...I love buying fabric and putting together these new schemes, but I am so hesitant to pull the trigger sewing. I don't want to "waste" it by using it and then tiring of it like I seem to do so quickly. When actually it is much more wasteful to just let it sit.
Anyway, I am working now on those aforementioned cushions. One down, three to go. I will post the newly refreshed kitchen soon.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Happy New Year! It has been a long while since I posted anything. I have been struggling with my priorities. Some days just getting everyone where they need to be makes me crazy. My goal for ,not just the new year,but for the rest of my life is to put God first and to turn to Him for the right priorities and balance and peace. I want Him to be real in my life, for this to happen I have to seek him. He is not in the sewing or washing machine either! He is in creation no doubt, but in His creation and in His Word. Can I get an amen! I have asked again, sincerely this time, to be made aware of sin in my life. And He's doing it! No surprise there, I am just a little surprised at my attitude about it. Trying not to make excuses and justifying is really hard.
So... I am making some changes, I changed the name of this blog. I don't want my life to be about chaos, God is not the author of confusion. I hope that I have stated clearly what I will be writing about. I love God, I love my family, and I really like to work on stuff, so I am going to share these things.
We all have struggles, I am hoping that by identifying the source of some of these battles, Satan. I can recognize my sin for what it is and turn from it. I have a long list of what I have identified in my life. Let me say for the longest time , I have been unable to see how sharing any sin I am currently struggling with or have in the past as beneficial to me or anyone else. I was wrong.
I am in the process of cleaning and organizing my house too, completing projects that I have had the materials for forever, just trying to get my act together in general.

About Me

He who began a good work in you will be faithful complete it... I am amazed at the not only the gift that God has given me of salvation through Jesus, but I am humbled by the mercy he has shown me. I just want to live my life to honor him. Whether that is in cleaning my home( which needs to be done endlessly),sewing pillows, painting furniture or taking photos of my most cherished gifts, my four boys. I like to express myself through creative "projects", so I would like for this blog to be where my loves are discussed. God first, family next and lastly, my decorating and DIY projects. Each post won't necessarily be about all three all at one time, but I am seeking to glorify God in all I do.